Matthew 9:9-17—From Sin to Celebration

In this passage, we learn that Jesus came to heal sick sinners and turn our sorrow into celebration.

In the last chapter, Jesus gave some stern warnings to a couple of men who said they wanted to be his disciples. But now he walks up to a tax collector, a Jew who worked for the oppressing Romans, a man who would be thought of as a traitor, and he tells him, "Follow me." And the next thing you know, Jesus is kicking back and dining with a bunch of tax collectors and notorious sinners.

This raises two questions about Jesus. The first is about the company he keeps, and the second is about the behavior he encourages.

The Pharisees ask Jesus' disciples the first question, about the company he keeps: "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" It sounds like a fair question. The Bible, Old and New Testament, teaches that God's people should choose godly friends. Psalm 1 says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers." And the Apostle Paul says, "Bad company ruins good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

What the Pharisees have missed is who Jesus is and what he has come to do. "Those who are well," he says, "have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Yes, the tax collectors and sinners are unholy people, but Jesus is just the physician they need for the sickness of their souls. And they, unlike the so-called righteous Pharisees, have already started taking their medicine. Later in the Gospel, Jesus will say, "The tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him."

Are you a notorious sinner too? Or even a self-righteous hypocrite whose sins are all carefully hidden? It isn't too late for you. Pray to Jesus, the great physician of the soul, and he will heal you.

The second question is about the behavior Jesus encourages. John's disciples come to Jesus and ask him, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" John's disciples aren't worried about the company Jesus keeps: John accepted tax collectors and prostitutes too. But they're worried about the behavior he encourages. If we're repenting sinners, shouldn't we be fasting? Fasting is a way of humbling yourself before God. So why are Jesus' disciples always feasting?

Jesus' answer is either incredibly arrogant or a complete game-changer. Basically, he says, Your choice to fast or feast shouldn't be about you: it should be about me. He gives three illustrations to explain this.

First, he uses the example of a bridegroom. Of course the groomsmen aren't going to fast at the wedding. They're going to party with the bridegroom. The point is that Jesus is like a bridegroom, and it falls in line with Old Testament comparisons of a king to a bridegroom whose people are his bride. The idea is that Jesus has come to be king over Israel, and so this is a time to celebrate, not to fast.

The second example is the example of patching an old garment with a new piece of cloth. You shouldn't do this, because the new piece of cloth will shrink and tear the old garment. In this illustration, the old garment is the old way of doing things, before Jesus came on the scene. The patch represents something like Jesus or the kingdom of heaven or the new covenant. The point is that you can't just plug Jesus into your old way of doing things. Jesus isn’t a patch for your old clothes. He doesn’t fit into your old lifestyle.

So what should you do, if you can't fit Jesus into your old way of doing things? The last example answers this question. You need a new way of doing things. "Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved." The new wine represents Jesus and the kingdom of heaven and the new covenant. You can’t just put him into the old way of doing things. You need new ways, new wineskins.

But what a claim! Fasting is a religious practice. People don't fast for men: they fast for God. And Jesus is saying, you shouldn't fast right now, because I am here. My presence changes everything. The claim makes no sense unless he is able to take away the very sin and guilt that were the reason to fast in the first place. And, of course, that is what he has already said he does. He is the physician who has come to heal sinners.

But how? How does this physician-bridegroom heal his patient-bride? He has alluded to it already, when he mentioned the bridegroom being taken away. Before this bridegroom can be wed, he must first be taken away to die on the cross in the place of his sinful bride. His blood is the medicine that heals the sin-sick soul. For those tax collectors and prostitutes, he went to the cross. But for them he also rose again. The parties they had for such a short time before his death were a foretaste of the celebration we will hold with him in the new heavens and the new earth when he comes again.

And what do you think about Jesus's disciples partying so much? Do you think they overdid it? Do you think they should have been a little more dignified, diligent, restrained, frugal? Or do you agree that the presence of Jesus changes everything, that everything we do should revolve around him and where he is and what he is doing?

You know, he did teach his disciples how to fast, and that wasn't just for the three-day period of his death. After he ascended to heaven, the book of Acts tells of the disciples in Antioch worshiping the Lord and fasting before the Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for missionary work. They fasted to prepare themselves for service to Jesus, just as the tax collectors and prostitutes feasted to celebrate the presence of Jesus. The point in both cases is that Jesus' disciples have no religion except devotion to him, his will, his worship.

And who needs any other religion, if Jesus is the physician who heals our sin, the bridegroom who died to save us, his bride? Why not dedicate every moment of every day to him? Our feasting, our fasting, our work, our rest, our waking, our sleeping, our eating, our drinking, our running, walking, skipping, swimming, singing, dancing, laughing, crying? You may cry while the world laughs, when you see rich and prosperous people mocking the name of your Lord. But you will also rejoice while the world threatens, when you remember that your king is enthroned in heaven. If you follow Jesus, you will never again be an old wineskin, only suitable for the old ways. You will be a healed sinner, filled with the new wine of heaven.

Pastor Nate Jeffries